


one person in a sea

by galaxymuncher



Category: The Goldfinch (2019), The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
Genre: Comfort, Domestic, First Love, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Slow Dancing, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, i love these two so much, slight drowning mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 18:30:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20840072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxymuncher/pseuds/galaxymuncher
Summary: [another take on the slow dance fic I did]I know you, you're the one I've waited for, lets have some fun





	one person in a sea

On the nights where everything is quiet, only the faint sounds of crickets chirping and palm trees leaves swaying in the wind fill the void of silence. Tonight, was no different, as right around the usual time the crickets began their ritual. Two bottles clinked down onto the kitchen counter rather loudly, laughter following, the tv blaring unusually loud for this time of night.

“Hey watch it, fucker! You nearly spilled beer on me!”

“It is an improvement, no?”

“Shut it before I knock you out with it!”

“Ha! You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me!”

A chase begins to ensue, Boris chasing after Theo, round and round and round they go, jumping over the sofa and nearly breaking the coffee table. Popchyk awakes with a start, barking like a madman at whatever is going on in the hopes that it’ll do something, despite there being nothing. A hand grips at air for a moment before eventually managing to grab the back edge of a shirt, yanking them both down to the carpeted floor below them. Grabbing an arm, Boris pinned it to Theo’s back, straddling him to make sure he didn’t get away.

“Haha! I’ve got you now! Say uncle!”

“Fuck off! I ain’t saying uncle!!”

“Say it and I’ll let you go!”

“No!”

“Fine! Then I am staying here, Potter!”

With a huff, he looked forward, trying his best to keep the glasses on his face from falling so that he could at least keep his vision. A sound soon caught his attention, causing his head to turn toward where it was coming from, the source being the television he soon realized. They had put a movie in not too long ago...how could he have forgotten that?

“Boris! We were watching a fucking movie!”

“So? What does that have to do with you saying uncle or not?”

“Shut up dumbass!”

After a few moments, Theo managed to shake free his arm from the lazy grip he noticed the other have, turning himself as best as he could to look at him. His eyes were hazy, the drinks and few drugs they took were now kicking in, he could tell, unfocused yet still aware at the same time. He reached up, waving a hand in his direction.

“Earth to idiot! Get off of me, let’s get back to the movie, alright?”

“Oh sure, Potter...whatever you say”

Easily he lifted himself up from where he sat previously, offering his hand out, which he took. Soon the both of them were sat on the sofa once more, side by side, the screen flickering from image to image. The movie they had chosen was one they found at random in a bargain bin at the local supermarket, it was at the bottom and they really didn’t think much on it when they saw it, taking it without so much as a hint of hesitation before any of the store managers saw them. Beauty and the Beast, a classic that neither had so much as heard of in their entire lives, yet they decided to put it on anyways cause---what the hell else were they gonna do? Play a rerun of ‘Top Gun’ or ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ again? Time for something different. Soon, the two main characters were dancing ever so gracefully in a grand ballroom, a beautiful song played in the background as the two smiled and held one another close.

“Hmm”

“Hmm what?”

“Potter, stop the movie”

“Why? Did it get boring all of a sudden?”

“No no no, just stop it for me really quickly”

Theo sighed, reaching over to the remote as he then pressed the button to pause, turning his attention back to Boris, who now was standing up, swaying slightly in his daze, hands outstretched toward him.

“What?”

“Get up, stupid”

“Why?”

“Just do it, I have a plan”

“Can you tell me?”

“You will see! Now get up already! Up! Up! My patience is wearing thin!”

Up he went, no more questions. Theo could see that this plan was very important if Boris was using that tone, the one that sucked the life out of someone if they were to hear it out of context, the tone he always enjoyed hearing. His hand took one of the outstretched ones, lacing them together. His were so slender compared to his small yet slightly thicker ones, yet he didn’t know exactly why he took notice of such a small detail such as that. Eventually he looked up to see they were now outside, the chirps loud in his ears as he tried to get his bearings.

“What the hell are we doing out here? It’s fucking freezing man!”

“Shut it! Take my other hand”

“What are we in kindergarten? Are we doing the buddy system or something?”

“The what?”

“Never mind”

An eyebrow cocked, signaling immense confusion in the moment, but Theo simply brushed it aside, gently bonking the other upside the head to make him forget about it before lacing his other hand together. Secretly his heart was starting to race, making his hands a bit sweaty and his breathing shallow, he’d never held Boris’ hands like so before, it felt...strangely intimate, like he wasn’t supposed to be doing this. His feet began to move, one step, two step, a steady rhythm of back and forth. It was then he realized what was going on.

“Boris?”

“Shhhh Potter, don’t talk I need focus”

“It’s to focus moron”

“What did I JUST say??”

One step, two step, once more. The two steadily moved in a semi fluid motion around the pool as best as they could. They were following along to the best of their abilities and memories of what they saw in the film just moments before. Stars shined brilliantly across the night sky, a sight more beautiful than what could ever be found in New York, what with the constant smog and rainstorms. Theo suddenly remembered what his mother had told him when he was very young, trying to star gaze out his bedroom window;

_You know, puppy, if you and I ever find ourselves separated...just know that if you look at the sky at night, the moon will always stay where it is_

_It will?_

_But of course! So when you get lonely, just look at the moon and remember that I’m always looking at it too, ok?_

“Hey! Potter, you doing ok?”

His head shook as reality snapped back in, eyes dripping with tears as he looked back to Boris, sniffling a bit. His hand slipped out of one of the grips, wiping away the remaining drops with the back of his sweater sleeve.

“Yeah I’m fine, I just...remembered something my mom said once, it’s stupid”

“Ah, no, don’t say that—what was it?”

“No it’s fine I promise, ignore me”

“I can’t do that, now you have my interest, talk! Or we can go back to dancing if it is something you don’t want to talk about?”

“Please, lets just go back to dancing”

A nod and soon they were back to dancing once more, Theo finding himself shuffled close to Boris, head leaning against his chest as he searched for a familiar heartbeat.

Bah-dum, bah-dum, bah-dum

Going on and on, his eyes closed as he continued to listen, his own heartbeat matching the rhythm while his feet moved along. Boris kept going as best as he could, eyes keeping focused on Theo nearly the entire time, he couldn’t help but study his smaller figure, noting the smell of the shampoo he would use, and how shaky he felt as they held hands, probably from how cold out it was.

“Want to go inside? You’re shaking”

“No...just keep going”

“Fine, just let me know if you want to stop, ok?”

At this point they were only part of the way into the yard and about at the half way mark for the pool. Another idea soon came that night, a small smirk coming to his face as he felt himself drunkenly stumble again, nearly falling into Theo. Soon they stopped in place, standing there, breathing. Just as Theo lifted his head up to inspect what went wrong, his world swapped as his body was shoved from the edge into the chlorine waters below. Panic set in as he quickly paddled up toward the surface, breaching with a loud gasp.

“BORIS WHAT THE MOTHER FUCK??”

“Ha! Gotcha Potter!”

“Jesus Christ man! Warn me next time you want to drown me!”

A loud splash, company has now joined in. Theo looked over, glasses stained with droplets, to see Boris making his way over, curled locks plastered to his face. His appearance gave him a similar look to seaweed off the side of a ship, or that monster from that movie he saw all that time ago...his thoughts were interrupted by a giant wave hitting his face.

“Oh you’re gonna pay for that, come here dipshit!”

Laughter, they begun the chase again, picking up where they left off indoors. A war of water, pitting drunk intellect against another probably drunker intellect. There was a strategy in all the madness and one common goal: soak the other one to the bone and whoever chickens out first is the loser. Dipping down, Theo felt his way blindly underwater until he found his target, yanking down Boris’s leg until it collapsed and made him fall under. Both struggled until eventually they both breached for air again, swimming in place, chests heaving with exhaustion as they stared at one another.

“You giving up yet?”

“Nyet, I never give up! I’m just...taking state mandated break is all—“

He reached out, punching his arm slightly with a chuckle. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was starting to tire out, the alcohol already had made him hazy before...and now with the added swimming break? He was about ready to pass out right there. Though, he found moving about in chest height water rather difficult in the state he was in, causing him to lean in toward Boris slightly, nearly falling into him.

“Woah Potter, watch it! You fall face first, you’re asking for a drowning accident”

“Sorry...I’m just—getting tired is all”

“Ah, right, we should head inside, who knows what the fuck the time is, probably late...here, I got you”

Arms wrapped around his waist, pulling Theo closer to the warmth radiating from the other, his face burning a bit suddenly, great...was he getting a cold? That’s the last thing he needed currently, stupid pool water and cold desert air. Boris began to move toward the ladder to exit, moving slowly to make sure they both didn’t fall over or float away on accident, yet suddenly a sensation washed over him, making him ground himself in place to prevent either of them from moving forward, confusing Boris once more.

“Are you sure you’re feeling ok? You want to stay in this pool all of a sudden?”

Moving forward a bit more, his shaky hands cupped the others cheeks, feeling his hands warm up a bit as his eyes studied him, watching how the pool light and moonlight clashed against his pale skin, making it seem almost paler if that were possible, his eyes glowed in unimaginable ways, and his lips...though bruised and majorly chapped, looked gorgeous as well. Almost as if he were in a trance, Theo leaned in, closing his eyes as he pressed his own lips against Boris’, hearing as feet stepped back a bit within the water, displacing it, hands raising up from the sides to place themselves upon his own cheeks after a few beats, bringing them even closer somehow. Eventually they broke apart, fingers gliding across to part some wet hair away to see better.

“Heh, god, you are a weird one Potter”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean, dickmunch?”

“Is not important, let’s just get out of here before we get the uh...what is it again?”

“Hypothermia?”

“Yeah! That!”

With a nod, they slowly and sloppily made their way out of the pool, nearly slipping back in a few times. Both of them were soaked beyond belief, dripping with chlorine as they removed what clothes they could, leaving them behind to air dry, a morning issue for sure. Eventually they were left with only boxers and wet, mangled hair, their hands found their way to each other again, holding tight as they giggled and walked inside, shhhing each other, stealing pecks as well as the occasion shove in the safety of the house.

“Pssst Boris, I’ve got a secret”

“Yeah? What?”

“Come ‘ere”

Shuffling close, Boris leaned down to meet Theo’s height, looking at him as they stood in the bedroom, door closed and secure, blinds drawn. He leaned in, pressing another kiss to his lips, which deepened as they suddenly found themselves sitting upon the floor, holding each other close, lazily running their fingers through their wet hair until hitting a knot and moved on. Breaking away once more, they gazed into their eyes again, not speaking, enjoying the silence, foreheads pressed together.

“Hey, Potter”

“Yeah?”

“Lets try dancing again tomorrow, I’m sure I’ve got it down by now, and who knows? Maybe we could dress for the occasion! I’m sure Xandra has an extra dress for you somewhere!”

“Oh fuck off”

“Only kidding! I promise! But seriously—“

“Yes...we can dance again tomorrow”

A smile plastered his face, soft yet hopeful. They kissed once more, just as soft as Boris’ smile, soon they lowered themselves to the floor, tangling together tightly as the same thought crossed both their minds;

_Please don’t let me go now, I need you like you need me, and even if it’s just for tonight, I’ve finally got you._


End file.
